Smartphones have become the gateway to information, entertainment, businesses and more thanks to the rise of apps and app based services.

ComScore Recently Released a Mobile App Report Based on App Usage in the US

According to the report:

The Top Ten Most Used Apps

Facebook

Facebook Messenger

Youtube

Google Maps

Google Search

Google Play

Gmail

Pandora

Instagram

Amazon

What’s interesting to note is that three of the top ten apps are Facebook owned, while five of them are Google owned.

The Six Fastest Rising Apps in Terms of Usage

Waze

Fitbit

Uber

Tinder

Bitmoji

Lyft

The Top Performing Apps in Terms of Time Spent

Most of the time spent in apps is on the following categories:

Social networking (20%)

Music (16%)

Games (12%)

Multimedia (7%)

Instant messengers (5%)

Retail (4%)

Photos (3%)

Search / Navigation (3%)

Portals (2%)

News / Information (2%)

Other (26%)

When it comes to the amount of time spent in each content category, the usual suspects appear to be dominating:

Social Networking

Facebook (76%)

Snapchat (8%)

Twitter (4%)

Multimedia

Youtube (68%)

Netflix (21%)

Hulu (4%)

The Top Ten Apps With the Highest Usage Amongst Millennials (18 -34)

Yik Yak (99%)

Playstation Official App (81%)

Venmo (81%)

Twitch (80%)

Vine (78%)

MeetMe (77%)

GroupMe (76%)

Tinder (75%)

SoundCloud (74%)

Wattpad (72%)

The ‘Rule of the Thumb’

Percentage of one-handed smartphone users who consider thumb-reach when positioning their apps on the phone screen:

Age 18 – 34 (61%)

Age 35 – 54 (59%)

Age 55+ (46%)

More time is being spent on smartphone apps, but most of that time is concentrated in the highest engagement apps owned by a few of the largest internet companies. The smartphone app now accounts for half of digital media time spent and is still growing strongly, but not at the rate it once was. Large internet companies command the majority of app time, so it can be a challenging market for lesser-known brands.

While we haven’t yet reached ‘Peak App’, the market is definitely tightening, making it more difficult for up-and-coming apps to breakthrough. App publishers need to rethink how to break through to the consumer’s screen. People aren’t downloading as many apps anymore. They increasingly put those apps into folders, and they are less likely to allow push notifications, making it harder than ever for apps to be seen. Breaking through means having the rare novel app idea or relying on traditional marketing and advertising for distribution.